Iran will hold exercises in the Strait of Hormuz

2012-01-06 15:00

The commander of the IRGC naval forces (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) Admiral Ali Fadavi stated that his unit will hold military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf in February.

Military maneuvers called "Great Prophet" are held annually for the past seven years, but this year the exercise will be different from the past IRGC maneuvers, said the admiral.

Recently, Iran conducted naval exercises "Velayyat-90" ("Supremacy-90"), which ended with a test of long-range missiles and worsening at the international arena. The exercices were held from December 24 to January 2. The zone of the maneuvers amounted about 2 million square kilometers in international waters - from the Straits of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman.

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The aggravation of the situation around the exercises took place after the declarations of the Iranian authorities about the possible overlap of the Strait of Hormuz - a major sea route for oil and gas exports from the Persian Gulf. In mid-December, a member of the Iranian parliamentary commission on national security Parviz Sarwari said that during the exercises in the Strait of Hormuz they would work out the actions of its closure. This statement caused the rising cost of oil at world markets. But then the press secretary of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Ramin Mehmanparast said that Tehran would not close the strait during the exercises, RIA Novosti reported.

December 27, First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that Iran is going to close the strait if the West will impose sanctions on oil exports from the Islamic Republic.